Kurunagar and Paasaiyoor in Jaffna have imposed travel restrictions over COVID-19 concerns after two residents from the adjoining areas reportedly tested postive.

The afflicted were a fish vendor and his assistant who purchased their supplies from the Peliyagoda fish market where a new COVID-19 cluster was recently found. The travel restrictions were imposed as a precautionary measure, according to M Balasuriya, the Secretary to the Public Health Inspectors Association.

Raja village in Karaveddy, Jaffna, has also been declared as an isolated areas, with 60 families placed under quarantine.

The number of cases in Sri Lanka have been on the rise with reports of 10,424 cases. The majority of cases stem from a garment export factory in Minuwangoda, in the Western Province and a wholesale fish market in Peliyagoda, suburban area of Colombo. EconomyNext reported that 863 visitors to the market were sent to military run quarantine centres. 

Sri Lanka's coronvirus response has been led by accused war criminal and Army Commander, Shavendra Silva. When the pandemic broke out earlier this year, President Gotavaya Rajapaksa gave full powers to the Sri Lankan police to arrest those who violate the curfew imposed to curb the virus. The military has also reported that it has continued to ensure that all arrivals on the island are sent to the controversial quarantine centres, set up largely in the Tamil North-East.